Flyers Charities donates $400K to Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation to build hockey rink in Kensington

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and Flyers Charities announced on Saturday morning plans to construct a multi-purpose outdoor street hockey rink at the Joseph Scanlon Recreation Center located at 1099 E. Venango Street in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

To help make this project possible, Flyers Charities presented Snider Hockey with a $400,000 check at an event prior to the Flyers’ afternoon game against the Washington Capitals. In addition to building an outdoor street hockey rink, Flyers Charities and Snider Hockey will refurbish the current playground and construct an all-purpose sports wall.

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“One of our organization’s core values is growing the game,” Flyers president of business operations Valerie Camillo said. “And this project is just an incredible opportunity to help us continue to do that. Everyone knows hockey’s an incredible sport that teaches incredible life lessons about hard work, determination, grit, teamwork, but we also recognize that it’s an expensive sport to play that requires access to equipment, facilities, coaching, ice time, and much more.

“And that’s why we’re committed in our partnership with Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Flyers Charities to ensure that every kid in this city, regardless of their zip code and their family’s income, gets to participate in this amazing game. That’s what this project is all about.”

Snider Hockey runs programs at the Scanlon Ice Rink in Kensington and at four other city-owned rinks and provides educational programs across the city. Additionally, Snider Hockey operates free after-school hockey education. The organization recognizes that adding street hockey to its offerings can help the sport reach even more children.

“The great thing about doing the outdoor rink is we’re gonna be able to combat the two things that make ice hockey a problem: lack of ice time and the ability that you have to know how to skate to play ice hockey,” said Snider Hockey president Scott Tharp.

“We see it as an introductory pathway to get more kids involved, have easier access, and hopefully they’ll fall in love with the game of hockey and transition to the ice in a very quick manner.”

If this project makes an impact, Tharp said Snider Hockey would like to replicate it in additional locations. In total, phase one — the rink, sports wall, playground renovation, and security upgrades — will cost about $1.2 million.

Ideally, the project would be completed at the end of the summer, but due to supply chain issues, Tharp estimates it will be finished in early- to mid-November.

“Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is so grateful to Flyers Charities for this investment in the Scanlon Recreation Center and the youth it serves,” commissioner of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Kathryn Ott Lovell said. “The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is an outstanding partner to Parks and Rec, providing youth development and empowerment programs that extend far beyond the ice. The investment we are celebrating today will expand access to safe, fun youth recreation in Kensington.”

Late Flyers founder Ed Snider established the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation in 2005 with the aspiration of uniting communities in Philadelphia through hockey and education. The Scanlon Rink program has averaged 325 participants since Snider Hockey partnered with the City of Philadelphia to enclose rinks in 2020.

In 2022, Snider Hockey is awarding 17 full scholarships to Scanlon students at private or parochial high schools and 44 scholarships to Scanlon alumni in college.